China Speaks

We have been enjoying the comforts of our apartment the last few days as Julie is recovering from a bout of food poisoning and male nurse Ryan is making sure she gets enough sleep, food and drink.

Therefore, it seemed like a great time to check out the new DVD Player management provided us. I ran down to the store and bought a couple of DVDs...for 3 dollars. I bought CRASH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. We both thought the movie was great and provided a lot of food for thought. The following day, with Julie still feeling a bit ill, I turned on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. The first half of the movie looked promising, although I never got to the second half because the DVD Player broke down. So, I did the prudent thing (or what I thought was the prudent thing) and called management to see if I could get some help. After speaking with management in broken English/Chinese, essentially yelling "DVD BROKEN" into the telephone, the repairman, SONG, came knocking on our door. SONG is a very nice, middle-aged, repairman, who speaks ZERO English. I tried and tried to communicate to him that the DVD was skipping and was not working properly (although it had worked hours earlier). He realized the obvious language barrier and called for assistance. I thought to myself, "Great, now he is calling for someone who speaks English and with whom I can communicate." The doorbell rings 2 minutes later and in walks "VINEY" (I believe his name was VINNEY, but his name tag said VINEY). Anyway, VINEY did not speak English either and he was just called in to help SONG with the DVD Player...about this time I noticed that SONG had been using the TV Remote and not been fixing the DVD Player, but trying to figure out if something was wrong with the TV. It was clear I had not effectively communicated my problem, so I said "Not TV, but DVD is broken", thinking to myself that statement would solve the problem! SONG and VINEY then radioed in for further assistance and moments later ERIKA walked in the door. Her English was limited, but she knew more than VINEY and SONG. So I explained that the DVD Player was broken and inquired as to whether I could get another one. After which, all was sorted out. So, about 60 minutes, 3 workers and 1 DVD Player later, we had worked out that we would get a new DVD Player. Very funny indeed, but simple interactions such as these, are a constant reminder to Julie and I that we are in a country of 1 billion+ people and (unlike other countries we have visited) English is not a major concern or priority, since tourism is not a number one business in this country. Certainly, business folk have a better understanding of the English language and are interested in learning, but coming from a place like Thailand or Cambodia, where it seemed everyone spoke some English, it takes some time to get accustomed to it.

Oh, another first for us...I come home from the gym yesterday (no, that isn't the first) and Julie is sitting on the couch watching 'AMERICAN CHOPPERS.' Yes, this is the show where father and son build Harley-Davidson motorcycles and it overflows with testosterone...I asked Julie if she had ever seen this show and she said, "No, but it looked interesting." I immediately took Julie's temperature as I thought perhaps she had relapsed and her fever returned because this was certainly out of the ordinary. Fortunately, she was fine and it seems she has found a new show...move over Oprah! Anyway, Julie is much better today and we will go to dinner with Jimmy and Cecilia tonight. Jimmy told us to meet him at 'bao li da sha' - we have no idea what that means, so we are crossing our fingers our taxi driver understands!